The Day Fades into Nothing
by Kagetsuki Tsukishiro
Summary: Naruto had spent most of his years as a ninja chasing after a team mate who never once looked back at him, forever chasing a shadow which danced and teased him from under his eyelids. Oneshot.


It was two days after the 17th Annual Festival that celebrated the death of the Kyuubi no Kitsune when Uzumaki Naruto found himself cornered by five ANBU. He recognised the masks, vaguely, since most ANBU masks of Konoha were similar. He considered running away but he didn't when he realised that the ANBU would most likely be able to catch him. They probably had a reason for cornering him like this.

"Uzumaki Naruto. The Hokage and the Council has requested your presence now," stated the ANBU who wore the white mask with the blue and red swirls.

"I'll go by myself. I don't need _escorts_," said the blond, his cerulean blue eyes darting from one ANBU to another. He could tell that _something_ was wrong. If Tsunade wanted him, he would have gotten a notification in the form of either Sakura, Shizune of Hinata. Tsunade never sent the ANBU, not even _one_, because she knew how they made Naruto uncomfortable, almost paranoid.

"You will come with us now," said the ANBU and they held on to his arms. Naruto tried pulling away but realised that one of them had put a paper seal on his wrists. _Chakra_ _seals_, he thought before he followed the ANBU albeit reluctantly.

Something terrible was going to happen.

---

Naruto had spent most of his years as a ninja chasing after a team mate who never once looked back at him, forever chasing a shadow which danced and teased him from under his eyelids. He never once questioned _why_ he did it because it felt right. Really, it did. Naruto guessed that maybe it was because he liked seeing Sakura happy and not beating herself up for not being strong enough to stop Sasuke.

The blond was rather proud of his pink haired team mate now. She was a wonderful kunoichi with beauty, power and intelligence. Together, they worked hard to get their team mate back but they failed and every time after a failed attempt, Sakura would cry in her room when she thought that nobody was looking but Naruto knew. Naruto knew because he understood his team mate, because he knew her pain.

He would then walk all alone to the Uchiha grounds. It was a silent place which had always exuded dread and treachery but now it was worse without its last member. The Uchiha clan had once been grand. Naruto could remember the flags of the Uchiha, fluttering gracefully in the wind as the clansmen patrolled the village. The whiskered blond could remember a time when the clan insignia was abundant and he had a friend.

It was a long time ago but Naruto wished that time could turn back. Life was a lot easier before he became genin and, he supposed, it would have been easier without the massacre of the Uchihas.

He'd leave after an hour within the compounds, sitting on a porch and staring at the night sky. He'd leave without looking behind as the rustling of leaves in the wind muted the sound of his footsteps moving further and further away.

---

"We, the Council have decided to banish you, Uzumaki Naruto, from Konoha," stated the old woman as she read from the scroll. She flicked the scroll close before handing it out for one of the ANBU to take away. Her old, gray eyes turned to stare at the whiskered blond who was gaping with shock and her steely look changed to one of complete disdain.

"You have a day to leave Konohagakure, Uzumaki. Hand your hitai-ate over to the Hokage and we will deal with all the papers regarding your banishment. Should you fail to comply with our words, we shall be forced to take drastic action," said Homura. His face was filled with bitter resentment, which deepened the creases and folds of his wrinkled face.

Naruto turned to look at Tsunade who looked back at him with sad, brown eyes. She shook her head lightly, as if to say, "I'm sorry." and the blond bit his lip until it bled, before he reached up and undid the headband he wore. He slipped off easily and Naruto gave it one last, fond look before he walked over to Tsunade and gave it to her.

"I understand," said Naruto, firmly, as he looked into her eyes. The Hokage felt like looking away from those blue eyes (so tired, so pained yet so forgiving) but she fought that urge and the tears that welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered and Naruto smiled a sad smile before he disappeared without a trace.

_I know_.

---

Life wasn't easy for Naruto but, to be fair, life was probably not easy for any shinobi in the world. Despite not having a choice when the cursed fox was sealed into him or what team he would be in, Naruto took it all in stride. He accepted it for what it was. It was, in a way, his choice to get out of his mother's womb on the tenth of October. It _was_ his choice to befriend Sasuke, to make him his rival, to _care_ when he could simply let go like everybody else did.

Naruto understood a lot more than he let on. He knew. He was intelligent enough to know that his choices had influenced the larger portions of his life. So, he continued walking forward. That's all he could do. He'd look back, every now and then and _wish_ but, in the end, he'd continue walking the path that was forged by his choices.

(Sometimes, although he'd never admit it, he faltered, feeling lost, thinking that one day, this is how it'll end.)

---

The hour Naruto left Konoha forever was remembered well. He stood at a balcony of the Hokage tower which overlooked the city. The sun shone above the horizon, rays of sun illuminating the village as he gazed at the familiar buildings one last time. He smiled sadly as he saw a pink haired kunoichi near the tower, a smile gracing her features. There were familiar faces, here and there, mostly shinobi for the civillians were still asleep.

The few minutes Naruto had left in Konoha, he whispered a soft, unheard goodbye into the air before he took a kunai out of his holster and twirled it in his right hand until the sun was fully in the sky. He could hear Tsunade approach the balcony he stood on and he could feel the chakra of the people important to him.

The few seconds Naruto had left was spent on that very balcony as tears fell on his warm skin and his blood pooled under his black shirt and bright yellow hair, trickling down the edges of the balcony, onto the unsuspecting villagers of Konoha. His blood seeped into the concrete, staining it forever red.

---

Konoha was his home and would always be his home.

Maybe, one day, he'd meet everyone once again, in the same training grounds, smiling and laughing.

* * *

**author's note:**

**Just felt like it, so I did. :\**

**- K.T.**


End file.
